The Power Trip
Mr. Galinsky and colleagues began by asking subjects to either describe an experience in which they had lots of power or a time when they felt utterly powerless. Then the psychologists asked the subjects to draw the letter E on their foreheads. Those primed with feelings of power were much more likely to draw the letter backwards, at least when seen by another person. Mr. Galinsky argues that this effect is triggered by the myopia of power, which makes it much harder to imagine the world from the perspective of someone else. We draw the letter backwards because we don’t care about the viewpoint of others.
This, from Jonah Lehrer at the WSJ, is just plain fascinating. It’s about power and its near inescapable potential to corrupt.
According to the article, transparency helps. Full disclosure: I just farted!
via @rands
